Map was confusing

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I wanted to let you know that I appreciated Everett Thomas' editorial on Darfur ("The Forgotten Women," Oct. 20). I used it as a basis of a current event lesson for my seventh grade students at Bethany Christian School. The information about women and girls being abused in refugee camps helped personalize the conflict for some students, who then were interested in discussing U.S. foreign policy and citizens’ roles in shaping it. Several students said that the editorial generated much discussion at home.

I would like to point out, however, that the accompanying map was confusing to many. It appears as if "Darfur" is an independent country, not part of Sudan. Map convention is that independent states, or countries, be in all caps. Cities, regions or "substates" are lowercase (except the first letter). Visually it would have been less confusing to show Darfur as the same color as Sudan, or perhaps striped with a note in a map legend, "area of conflict."

Associated Issue: Healing justice - Oct. 20, 2009

Associated Article: The forgotten women

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